42.3449° N, 71.0753° W

BOSTON

Most Famous People Born in Boston, United States

Notable people
3,663
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1926
Most distinctive
Novelist 3.5×

America's oldest civic intelligentsia. Boston's notables are unusually concentrated in the 1700s and 1800s by American standards, and the distinctive shelves still read like a Yankee almanac — novelists, lawyers, military officers, mathematicians, and diplomats, the trades of a city where Harvard, the State House, and the Old North Church share a few square miles. The modern half tilts more conventionally toward Red Sox baseball, actors, and a deep college-bred music scene.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Boston during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 348 notable births.

What Boston Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Boston's biggest profession — 9% of all notables (314).

Boston over-indexes on novelist3.5× the global rate.

Boston under-produces football — only 0.2× the global rate.

  1. Actor314
  2. Politician312
  3. Writer149
  4. Lawyer135
  5. Baseball110
  6. Painter106
  7. Music102
  8. Football87
  1. Novelist503.5×
  2. Baseball1102.6×
  3. Officer632.6×
  4. Mathematician452.5×
  5. Lawyer1352.1×
  6. Music1021.9×
  7. Diplomat371.7×
  8. Actor3141.6×
  1. Football870.2×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Boston's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Writing
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Music
  • Other
All3,663
Sort By

Showing 155 of 3,663 notable people

0092 BIOGRAPHER

Arlene Francis

1907 - 2001

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0249 SINGER

Jerry Colonna (entertainer)

1904 - 1986

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0290 PAINTER

Lois Mailou Jones

1905 - 1998

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0317 NOVELIST

Dorothy West

1907 - 1998

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0343 SCULPTOR

Korczak Ziolkowski

1908 - 1982

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0352 NOVELIST

Harry Kemelman

1908 - 1996

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0367 MILITAR

Paul D. Harkins

1904 - 1984

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0375 FILM

Joseph E. Levine

1905 - 1987

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0376 PHOTOGRAPHER

Carl Mydans

1907 - 2004

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0426 PRIEST

John Wright (cardinal)

1909 - 1979

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0477 CHEMIST

Max Tishler

1906 - 1989

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0492 FILM

Frank Ross (producer)

1904 - 1990

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0510 ARCHITECT

Thomas Church (landscape architect)

1902 - 1978

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0541 SCREENWRITER

Oscar Brodney

1907 - 2008

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0549 FILM

Ray Nazarro

1902 - 1986

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0551 HOCKEY

Walter A. Brown

1905 - 1964

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0562 PSYCHOLOGIST

Saul Rosenzweig

1907 - 2004

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0563 NOVELIST

Edward Dahlberg

1900 - 1977

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0564 ART HISTORIAN

Henry-Russell Hitchcock

1903 - 1987

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0566 NEWS PRESENTER

Ed Herlihy

1909 - 1999

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0584 NOVELIST

George Weller

1907 - 2002

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0587 ACTOR

Roland Winters

1904 - 1989

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0606 POLITICIAN

Paul A. Dever

1903 - 1958

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0607 TRUMPET

Phil Napoleon

1901 - 1990

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0631 WRITER

F. Van Wyck Mason

1901 - 1978

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0688 ACTOR

Hiram Sherman

1908 - 1989

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0706 NOVELIST

Phoebe Atwood Taylor

1909 - 1976

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0713 BANK

George David Woods

1901 - 1982

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0717 FILM

Hamilton MacFadden

1901 - 1977

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0723 DIPLOMAT

John Moors Cabot

1901 - 1981

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0724 POLITICIAN

Robert F. Bradford

1902 - 1983

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0765 SCENOGRAPHER

Roland Anderson

1903 - 1989

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0851 OFFICER

Joseph T. O'Callahan

1905 - 1964

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0865 ANTHROPOLOGIST

George Clapp Vaillant

1901 - 1945

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0914 WRITER

Wilmar H. Shiras

1908 - 1990

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0917 PAINTER

Perle Fine

1905 - 1988

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0949 SCREENWRITER

Lou Breslow

1900 - 1987

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0966 COMPOSER

Eliot Daniel

1908 - 1997

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0969 POET

Helene Johnson

1906 - 1995

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0993 PSYCHIATRIST

Hyman Spotnitz

1908 - 2008

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0996 ACTOR

Patricia Avery

1902 - 1973

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1010 PALAEONTOLOGIST

Frank M. Carpenter

1902 - 1994

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1033 LATINIST

Brooks Otis

1908 - 1977

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1034 ACTOR

Linda Watkins

1908 - 1976

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1053 ACTOR

Harry Einstein

1904 - 1958

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1096 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Harry L. Shapiro

1902 - 1990

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1105 DIPLOMAT

Maurice Halperin

1906 - 1995

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1106 CONDUCTOR

Arthur Mendel

1905 - 1979

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1109 ACTOR

Johnny Indrisano

1905 - 1968

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1111 ZOOLOGIST

Harold Jefferson Coolidge Jr.

1904 - 1985

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1114 ACTOR

Edmund MacDonald

1908 - 1951

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1115 WRITER

Norma Farber

1909 - 1984

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1137 MINISTER

Waitstill Sharp

1902 - 1984

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1155 ANIMATOR

Claire Parker

1906 - 1981

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1173 ACADEMIC

Marland P. Billings

1902 - 1996

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1183 FILM

Varick Frissell

1903 - 1931

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1197 SKATER

Sherwin Badger

1901 - 1972

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1243 FENCER

Joseph Levis

1905 - 2005

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1245 PHYSICIAN

Priscilla White (physician)

1900 - 1989

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1271 HISTORIAN

Benjamin Arthur Quarles

1904 - 1996

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1277 HISTORIAN

Mason Hammond

1903 - 2002

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1347 ATHLETE

Richard W. Mayo

1902 - 1996

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1409 PRIEST

Tomás Francisco Reilly

1908 - 1992

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1415 HOCKEY

Elbridge Ross

1909 - 1980

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1434 ACTOR

Gladys Walton

1903 - 1993

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1438 SONGWRITER

Charles E. Henderson

1907 - 1970

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1468 ACTOR

Donald Keith (actor)

1903 - 1969

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1546 SKATER

Valentine Bialas

1903 - 1965

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1547 WRITER

Nancy Hale

1908 - 1988

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1548 ACTOR

John Kelly (actor)

1901 - 1947

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1593 MUSIC

Lawrence Berk

1908 - 1995

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1626 SCREENWRITER

Erna Lazarus

1903 - 2006

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1667 ACTOR

Leone Lane

1908 - 1993

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1678 WRITER

Robert Sidney Bowen

1900 - 1977

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1682 COACH

Jack Hagerty

1903 - 1982

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1707 ENTOMOLOGIST

Allan Frost Archer

1908 - 1994

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1756 ACADEMIC

Edith Fishtine Helman

1905 - 1994

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1782 SKATER

J. Lester Madden

1909 - 1984

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1784 WIFE OF

Aurelia Plath

1906 - 1994

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1788 ACTOR

Damian O'Flynn

1907 - 1982

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1807 SCULPTOR

William McVey (sculptor)

1905 - 1995

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1924 DESIGNER

Melvin Johnson

1909 - 1965

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1945 JOURNALIST

Quincy Howe

1900 - 1977

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1952 HISTORIAN

Holden Furber

1903 - 1993

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1989 ACTOR

Leland Benham

1905 - 1976

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1993 ARTIST

Letterio Calapai

1902 - 1993

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2045 COMPOSER

Charles Gaynor

1909 - 1975

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2047 POLITICIAN

Irene E. Ryan

1909 - 1997

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2053 LITERARY

Dudley Fitts

1903 - 1968

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2068 POLITICIAN

Francis E. Kelly

1903 - 1982

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2100 JOURNALIST

Leon Adams

1905 - 1995

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2115 TREASURER

John Francis Kennedy (politician)

1905 - 1994

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2137 LAWYER

Bailey Aldrich

1907 - 2002

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2147 SKATER

George Hill (figure skater)

1907 - 1992

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2185 LAWYER

Charles Edward Wyzanski Jr.

1906 - 1986

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2242 ACTOR

Collette Lyons

1908 - 1986

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2303 ACTOR

Frank Scannell

1903 - 1989

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2310 SCHOLAR

John Caskey

1908 - 1981

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2350 POLITICIAN

John F. Parker

1907 - 1992

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2370 ETCHER

Lawrence Kupferman

1909 - 1982

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2431 FOOTBALL

Len Grant

1906 - 1938

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2461 JUDGE

Philip Nichols Jr.

1907 - 1990

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2489 LITERARY

Marcia Nardi

1901 - 1990

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2490 ACTOR

Alexander Steinert

1900 - 1982

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2491 BASKET

William Grinnell

1909 - 1997

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2507 ART CRITIC

Dorothy Adlow

1901 - 1964

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2546 EDUCATOR

John Cranford Adams

1903 - 1986

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2564 FOOTBALL

Alfred Henry Miller

1904 - 1967

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2573 PAINTER

Eve Garrison

1903 - 2003

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2586 SINGER

Tatiana Menotti

1909 - 2001

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2595 POLITICIAN

John E. Kerrigan

1908 - 1987

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2610 COACH

Duke Nelson

1907 - 1989

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2623 MINERALOGIST

Harry Berman

1902 - 1944

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2669 SWIMMER

Florence Chambers

1907 - 1979

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2688 COACH

Joe McKenney

1905 - 1995

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2690 PAINTER

Willard MacGregor

1901 - 1993

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2695 PHYSICIST

Nathaniel H. Frank

1903 - 1984

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2710 LAWYER

Sidney Sugarman

1904 - 1974

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2713 LAWYER

George Fingold

1908 - 1958

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2714 HOCKEY

Westcott Moulton

1906 - 1983

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2846 ACADEMIC

Edward Billings Ham

1902 - 1965

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2877 POLITICIAN

Pasquale Caggiano

1909 - 1972

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2894 ARCHITECT

Ruth Bancroft

1908 - 2017

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2975 JOURNALIST

Frances Sweeney

1908 - 1944

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2993 BASEBALL

Hank Garrity (baseball)

1908 - 1962

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3027 NOVELIST

Bradford Ropes

1905 - 1966

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3077 BASEBALL

Ed Wineapple

1905 - 1996

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3111 JOURNALIST

Carl Greenberg

1908 - 1984

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3136 ACTOR

Myrtle Watkins

1908 - 1968

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3145 DESIGNER

Edmund E. Anderson

1906 - 1989

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3163 BUSINESS

Michael Redstone

1902 - 1987

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3185 PUBLISHER

George Kirstein

1909 - 1986

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3200 MILITAR

William H. G. FitzGerald

1909 - 2006

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3214 WRESTLER

Blimp Levy

1903 - 1961

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3293 ACTOR

Cornelius Keefe

1900 - 1972

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3350 PLAYER

Alfred Codman

Born 1900

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3360 JUDGE

Gerard D. Reilly

1906 - 1995

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3409 BASEBALL

Art Smith (baseball)

1906 - 1995

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3414 PHYSICIAN

David Hurwitz (physician)

1905 - 1992

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3427 ENTOMOLOGIST

Kenneth Alden Bartlett

Born 1907

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3431 ROWER

Charles Mason (rower)

1908 - 1999

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3440 POLITICIAN

Daniel H. Coakley Jr.

1906 - 1964

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3441 ROWER

James Lawrence (rower)

1907 - 1995

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3457 SOCCER

Lawrence Briggs

1902 - 1970

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3491 LAWYER

Paul G. Kirk Sr.

1904 - 1981

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3496 LAWYER

A. Arthur Giddon

1909 - 2010

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3527 POLITICIAN

Joseph Lee (American politician)

1901 - 1991

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3543 PAINTER

Frank W. Applebee

1902 - 1988

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3554 TEACHER

Gustaf Lindskog

1903 - 2002

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3556 SPORT

Robert Livermore (alpine skier)

1909 - 1991

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3557 ACTOR

Edna Foster

Born 1900

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3560 SPORT

Maurice H. Palrang

1906 - 1978

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3578 MILITAR

Michael J. Galvin

1907 - 1963

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3639 BASEBALL

Sy Rosenthal

1903 - 1969

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3640 MUSIC

Howard Johnson (Altsaxophonist)

1905 - 1991

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